Unemployment rates hold steady, more jobs are added in California

Unemployment rates held steady last month throughout Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire and California, but all three regions saw jobs gains, according to a report released Friday.

Los Angeles County’s jobless rate for March remained unchanged at 8.7 percent. That still landed well below the year-ago rate of 10.1 percent, the state Employment Development Department reported.

The county added 18,900 jobs. That was considerably less than the 27,700 that were added the previous month, but the region’s employment sector expanded by 2.1 percent over the year with 87,500 new jobs.

“The main thing to note for the L.A. County economy is that we’re generally seeing every sector adding jobs,” said Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “We continue to see some problems with job counts in financial services, insurance and manufacturing, but the overall picture is one where we can say we’re closing that gap from where we need to be and where we are right now.”

L.A. County’s biggest gain last month came in government, which added 5,700 jobs. Nearly all of that (5,100) was in local government. State government added another 700 jobs, but that was offset by a loss of 100 federal government jobs.

Rene Sanchez, a human resources technician for the city of Burbank, said city staffing there is always in flux.

“We’re always hiring, whether it’s internally or from the outside,” he said. Sanchez added, however that some of that movement comes from employees who are retiring or leaving the city.

Other significant job gains for L.A. County came in educational and health services (4,900), information (3,800), professional and business services (3,300), construction (2,600), leisure and hospitality (2,400) and financial activities (300).

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Trade, transportation and utilities lost 2,500 jobs and manufacturing shed another 1,400 jobs, the EDD reported.

Shawn Guthrie, a division manager with PFS Investments in Monterey Park, said his operation is expanding.

“We’re staffing up,” Guthrie said. “Our office has about 100 full- and part-time people, but we are increasing that as the number of our clients increases. We’re on track to hit 300 to 500 working out of our office this year.”

All of that bodes well for the Southern California economy. But Kleinhenz noted that L.A. County’s broader measure of unemployment — which includes discouraged people who have given up looking for work and others who are working part time but would prefer to be full time — is actually closer to double the “headline” rate of 8.7 percent. That would hike it to more than 17 percent.

“It’s probably every bit of that and maybe even a little more,” he said.

The Inland Empire’s jobless rate for March was also unchanged at 9.4 percent but down from 10.5 percent a year earlier.

The two-county region boosted its payrolls with 3,000 jobs, which also fell below February’s net gain of 4,900 jobs. The Inland Empire’s yearly employment growth was more robust than L.A. County’s, however, with a 2.7 percent bump that created 32,400 new jobs.

The Inland Empire’s biggest employment increase also came in government, which added 2,100 jobs. Additional gains were seen in professional and business services (900 jobs), administrative, support and waste services (2,100 jobs) and management of companies and enterprises (100 jobs).

Professional, scientific and technical services shed 1,300 jobs, and more losses were seen in financial activities (down 500) and manufacturing (down 300).

California’s unemployment rate held steady at 8.1 percent in March, with 11,800 jobs added, the EDD reported. That fell well below the previous month’s revised gain of 62,100 jobs.

But the state’s year-over-year gain of 325,100 jobs was the biggest in the nation, according to Kleinhenz.

“Admittedly, we are larger in population and employment, but it’s been more common for other states to lead with job gains and at faster rates of growth,” he said. “It’s good news to report that our state came in first in year-over-year job gains.”

Another report released Thursday by Beacon Economics shows growing strength in construction, real estate and consumer spending throughout California.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that 21 states saw their unemployment rates fall in March. Another 17 states and the District of Columbia had increases and 12 states were unchanged.